William Edgar SIMONDS

(1842-1903)

SIMONDS, William Edgar, a
Representative from Connecticut; born in Collinsville, town of
Canton, Hartford County, Conn., November 24, 1842; attended the
public school and Collinsville High School, and was graduated from
Connecticut State Normal School at New Britain in 1860; taught
school; enlisted as a private in Company A, Twenty-fifth Regiment,
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, August 18, 1862; promoted to
sergeant major before being mustered into the United States
service; promoted to second lieutenant of Company I of his regiment
April 24, 1863; was graduated from Yale Law School in 1865; was
admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Hartford, Conn.;
member of the State house of representatives in 1883 and 1885, and
served as speaker in the latter year; elected as a Republican to
the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891);
unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second
Congress; United States Commissioner of Patents 1891-1893; resumed
the practice of his profession; died in Hartford, Conn., March 14,
1903; interment in Canton Center Cemetery, Canton, Conn.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present